Page 56 of My Secret Snowflake
“Do you know what happened?” she asks as we both dig into our burritos.
“Not really,” I say. I’m not sure what I can or can’t share. “Was it a surprise to you?”
“A complete surprise. We were in the middle of following up on an attack to our system.”
“Oh, yes, Bob told me about that, but he said nothing was taken.”
“Raphael saidsomething wastaken, but he didn’t tell me what. He said he didn’t think heshouldtell me on Friday. So now I’m wondering if that’s why he was fired. I have to figure out what was taken.”
If I’m supposed to get on-the-ground intelligence, I’m partnering with Iris on this mission.
“Bob told me that Kevin said he thought Raphael was doing something unauthorized,” I say.
“No way.”
“You can’t just dismiss it. Why no way?”
“What’s his motive? Why would he tell me he’d found what was taken?”
“To throw you off the scent that it was him?”
“Except that he told me to investigate it.”
“Could he have set up that intrusion as a diversion?”
Iris stares at me. “You’ve got a very devious mind. But looking to see if this intrusion is a diversionary tactic is part of an investigation protocol. In other words, I’m investigating everything, so it doesn’t make sense to tell me you found something if you don’t want to be caught. Anyway, what motive would he have?”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m going to set up some honeypots,” Iris says.
“Excuse me?” I ask.
“Enticing targets that are fake but look real, so the cybercriminals go after them instead of legitimate assets. And then, as they spend time in the network target, you can assess their capabilities. The reason we knew an attacker was in the system this time was because they tripped one of my traps. I made my trap look like the CEO’s files because I figured that the CEO’s and the CFO’s files are the most valuable targets—other than the movie IP.”
Iris gets so passionate when she talks about cybersecurity. She’s smart.
“I think Raphael was terminated because he found something while investigating this intrusion. Kevin told me the investigation is resolved, but I plan to keep investigating. He said he’s deciding between Hank and me, so he may still plan to get rid of me and move Hank into the position. Apparently, Hank immediately asked for the job. That’s such a joke because Hank is a total nepo hire, and as much as we try to teach him, he's lazy.” Iris looks completely disgusted.
“I overheard Hank complaining to Kevin about not getting the promotion,” I say.
“I still can’t believe he thought he was qualified,” she says.
“Kevin replied to Hank, ‘Youdon’t want it right now,’” I say. “What do you think that means? It doesn’t sound good.”
She stares at me. “It doesn’t. I don’t know.” She shakes her head. “Raphael’s files were also all deleted. I checked. Deleted by Hank.”
“Is that proper protocol?” I ask.
“No. They should have been kept, and I should have been given access to take over his projects.”
“Hmm. So proper protocol isn’t being followed there either.”
“Are you very into proper protocol?” she asks, her head tilted.
She is making fun of me. And boy, do I want to make a definitelynot properjoke, but this is serious.
“In these circumstances yes,” I say. “As the company lawyer.”
